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Friday, November 8, 2013

1997's Tick statue from Legends in Three Dimensions


There's a lot of Tick merchandise floating out there (well, not literally floating), most of which revolves (not literally revolving) around the mid-'90s cartoon, when they slapped (not literally slapped) the Tick logo on everything from action figures to buttons to spoons to Pogs to Halloween costumes to shampoo.  There are only a few Tick-related items that I would classify as more high end, and if were keeping score, the two statues made of the character are probably at the top of the list.  Earlier this year, I purchased and reviewed the very lovely (and fairly expensive) Tick statue from Sideshow Collectibles, a limited release from 2009.  The other statue, while not as limited or expensive - and technically a bust and not a statue - was made in 1997 from a company called "Legends in Three Dimensions".  Because it's been over 15 years since it was released, this item is relatively hard to find, and in fact I've only seen it in private collections once or twice before.  When I saw one show up on eBay, I placed a bid and won a great item, and so my collection of two is complete.  Even though it was made in the early years of superhero statues, it's a nice collectible and a testament to how popular the Tick as a character is and was.

Once the package showed up in the mail, I opened it up and took some pictures to share.  Let's take a look at this merchandise!


The box that the statue comes in is pretty '90s-tacular, with some gaudy colors and some clunky branding.  But it's got some character to it and, most importantly, it showed up in pretty good shape for its age and the fact that it was shipped across the country at least once.  The front of the box is, appropriately, an image of the item itself.  One thing to note is the logo used on the box, specifically the "THE" written above the name.  This uses the cartoon logo as opposed to the logo on the book, which is slightly different just for layout purposes.


The sides of the box feature artwork inspired by the Tick cartoon and comic, both painted by the bust's sculptor, Greg Aronowitz.  A quick Google search reveals that Aronowitz is best known as a production designer and makeup artist on a number of movies and shows, including Batman & Robin, Jurassic Park: The Lost World, the X-Files and Terminator 2.  Whether or not Aronowitz is a fan of the Tick or if this project was simply another job to him I don't know, but the artwork was an interesting addition to be sure.

Aronowitz has a website here: http://barnyardfx.blogspot.com/


This image, for example, is right from the comic, where the previous image was more inspired by the cartoon.  There's a lot of Edlund in this image, and in fact it might be panel specific if I'm not mistaken.


One concern that every Tick statue owner has is about the antennae - they're central to the character's design but are obviously the most fragile parts of something like this.  Thankfully, the antennae on this statue has help up nicely over the years.  I will, of course, still worry about it for the rest of my life.


The statue itself is really nice looking.  It's got a lot of features that are indicative of the cartoon, most notably the enlarged teeth.  The yellow and blue work nicely in tandem.

Oh, and the box I've got this sitting on is labeled "various", for...various reasons.




I'm happy to add this piece to the collection.  It's obviously got a special place in it.  I long for the day when the character reaches new heights in popularity and we can justify making an Arthur statue.  That'd be something.

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